


Junkyards, Shiny Things And Other Stranded Treasures

by PaleNoFace



Series: Space Boyfriends [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (he's trying okay), Altean Colony, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Found Family, Galra Keith (Voltron), Good Lotor (Voltron), M/M, Shapeshifting, Slow To Update, Tags May Change, galtean klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 01:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18511024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleNoFace/pseuds/PaleNoFace
Summary: You find the prettiest things in junkyards. If you're lucky, you might even dig up the love of your life. If you're not, you might just find the last member of a lost civilization.(Keith has to be the luckiest and yet most unfortunate bastard in the entire universe.)





	Junkyards, Shiny Things And Other Stranded Treasures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's procrastinating on working for finals by writing Galtean Klance again ? That bitch.

"Woah, this one is huge," Lance gasped in awe.

"I don't like it," Keith muttered. Lance lowered his binoculars and frowned.

"Why ? This is probably our only opportunity to get away from this junkyard," he pointed out, just in case Keith was suddenly struck with amnesia.

"It's too big," the other replied, purple fluffy ears flattening against his skull. "It must be part of a fleet or something important. ...Seriously, what if it's an ambassador's ?"

"Like ambassadors would ever land on Anteleil. Use your brain, buddy," Lance scoffed, turning back to the spaceship still trying to land on top of the garbage mountain.

"Ambassador or not, this ship is Galra. That fact alone should stop us for even thinking about trying to break in."

"I know, but..."

"And it's not like it'll be the only spaceship around. How many have we seen passing by just last week ? At least five !"

"But those were space wrecks ! Some of them were older than me !"

"I'm- !" Keith sighed before inhaling deeply and lowering his voice that got dangerously high. "Look, I really don't have a good feeling about this."

"...Keith, please. I just want to go home," Lance begged, his yellow eyes shining with hope.

The smaller man clicked his tongue in annoyance and pinched the bridge of his nose, but he eventually stood up and grabbed his backpack and, as a second thought, Lance's hand.

____________________________________________________________________________

No one would be surprised to learn that it turned out particularly bad.

A entire squad of guards ran into them as they made their way to, they hoped, the control room, almost executing them on the spot if it wasn't for an intercom call telling them to lock them down and wait for further instructions. So here they were, Keith pacing around in a grey and purple cell, while Lance sat silently in a corner.

"So... This went well," he finally said when the silence became unbearable.

"No it didn't."

"No it didn't."

Lance snorted. Keith scoffed and resumed his pacing.

"What do we do now ?"

"I dunno man, I never planned that far !"

"Urgh, see- ! This is why you have to trust me when I'm telling you that I don't have a good feeling about it."

"You're a pessimistic ! You don't have a good feeling about half of the things we do !"

"So what if I'm right about it ?!"

"You can't call off weeks of preparation because of a gut feeling !"

"This is called instinct !"

"Yeah, Galra instinct !"

"What does this have to do with anything ?!"

The door of their cell swished loudly, cutting short the argument.

"...Am I interrupting something ?" the man in the door frame asked, an eyebrow arched up in polite amusement. Keith immediately stepped between the stranger and Lance, letting out a warning growl. It made the newcomer smirk.

"Cute," he commented, his smile not totally reaching his eyes.

The guy was undeniably Galra, hovering over them in all his lilac glory, with fine lineaments and white hair that however were clearly inherited from another species. A half-breed, Keith realized. Just like him. The man was exceptionally tall for a halfling, though, even towering above Lance who was decently tall himself.

"I'm coming in peace," the half-breed eventually said, holding his hands up in surrender, but it didn't stop Keith's body from tensing and his eyes from narrowing.

"And who are you supposed to be ?"

"My apologies, where are my manners. I guess the surprise from finding strangers in my ship distracted me a little," he hummed, the irony of his tone making Lance wince. "I am Lotor, commander of this expedition and, of course, historian."

Keith immediately jerked up in a military salute - _of course_ they had to break into the Prince's ship, because their life was just that much of a mess.

"Historian ?" Lance snorted, bemused, apparently unaware of who he had in front of him.

"Why yes," Lotor immediately confirmed, his eyes landing on the taller Galra in a way that really didn't sit well with Keith, so he cleared his throat to bring the Prince's attention away. "Now, may I ask, who are you two supposed to be, why are you on this planet I thought was uninhabited and how did you end onboard of a highly secured Galra vessel without anyone noticing you ?"

"Oh we got noticed alright," Lance grumbled under his breath.

"We live on this planet," Keith deadpanned, somewhat offended that anyone other than Lance and himself could think badly of it - it was all garbage, sure, but it was _their_ garbage.

"Ah, perfect," Lotor nodded. "Then maybe you could actually help me."

"What's in it for us ?" Keith immediately bargained.

"Well, being released immediately for one, and then... I guess it might be hard to find food out there, isn't it ?"

From their stomachs growling simultaneously, Keith knew Lance and himself were thinking about their last meal - a carbonized insect-like alien they found in the remains of a crashed pod. If his smile was anything to go by, Lotor took it as a confirmation.

"It's settled, then. Food and freedom, what else can people ask for ?" he laughed and spun on his heels, obviously expecting the two of them to follow him. After a second of hesitation, Lance eventually put himself into motion and stepped outside of the cell, Keith behind him like a second shadow.

"I don't think I quite grasped your names," Lotor said at some point, his tone friendly and conversational.

They exchanged wary looks before Lance carefully spoke up.

"I'm Lance. This is Keith."

"Nice to meet you two. Alright. Now, food."

____________________________________________________________________________

Keith had to admit : Lotor knew how to treat his guests.

Not that the food himself was incredible, but after four days of fasting, even military rations tasted like Heaven. And the portions were abundant, too, so Keith didn't have to worry about calculating exactly how many times he was supposed to chew each mouthful to get the most of it.

Lance, in the other hand, had always been bad at restricting his meals. He started to slow down after the third helping, thankfully, while Keith was still half-way through his second.

"So," Lotor broke the silence, fingers laced under his chin and smirk still in place, "Where are you two coming from ? I'm guessing you aren't native from Anteleil."

"I'm from the Fifth Colony, your Highness," Keith stated, leaving no place to hesitation.

"Oh, so a trader, not a soldier. And you ?"

"I, um, I'm from Naxzela. I helped a team of scientists research a use for the Heximite."

"And how did you get stranded on this tiny floating space rock ?"

Keith cast a warning look at his partner, who shoved his spork in his mouth in a clear effort to keep himself silent. The smaller Galra's ear flicked as he thought very fast of an appropriate response.

"We crashed here a couple of deca-phoebs ago. We're been trying to get away since then."

"Uh-huh," the Prince nodded seriously. "And during your time here, did you find anything... Altean ?"

Lance froze. Keith's fur rose on his arms.

"What do you mean ?"

"Oh, well, I'm an archaeologist, and Altea is a lost civilization that I find incredibly interesting."

"We haven't seen anything like this," Keith bristled, at the same time that Lance said, "There is a pod-"

"Lance !"

Keith mouthed at him to shut up, but Lotor was already jumping on the subject.

"What kind of pod ? A healing pod, an escape pod, a cargo pod..?"

"A cryopod," Lance continued, ignoring the blatant signals Keith was sending him. "...Whatever was in it, though, left a while ago."

Keith shook his head with a sigh. The other two didn't seem to notice. Lotor leaned forward, looking incredibly interested. Lance's yellow eyes shifted uneasily around the room.

"This cryopod might be ten thousand years old, from before the Empire," Lotor explained, sounding delighted to have attentive ears to listen to him. "And who was in it, probably an Altean survivor, is still roaming free somewhere. Unless you were hungry or desperate enough to take them down."

Keith snorted quietly. Sure, they'd go with "hungry". Lance turned bright purple.

"We've only been around for two deca-phoebs," he argued to hide his embarrassment. "And that ruin is incredibly old. We probably missed each other."

"What a disappointment," Lotor clicked his tongue, leaning back in his chair. "I'm trying to get in touch with as many Alteans as possible, but it's a very complicated quest, as you must imagine."

Keith's ears fell flat on his skull.

"There aren't any Alteans left out there, my Prince," he spoke carefully. "Everyone knows they've been whipped out during the war."

Lance sagged a little in his seat, eyes on his plate. Lotor grinned at Keith.

"Not the original Alteans, obviously. I'm looking for their descendants, who'd been hiding in local populations to avoid the Galra."

"Then why-"

"I am not my father," the Prince insisted, dead serious. "Altea is my heritage too, and I fully intend on protecting what's left of it."

"...Why are you telling us that ?" Lance asked blankly.

"No offense, but I don't think a stranded merchant and and laboratory boy could do much to hurt a population I, the throne heir, am working on saving."

"Full offense, but point taken."

Lotor burst into laughing, and to the two others it was the most honest sound he ever made. Lance chuckled awkwardly along.

"Don't take this wrong, but I still don't think telling two stray Galras about hidden Alteans is the best idea," Keith pointed out.

Lotor chuckled, wiping an invisible tear from the corner of his eye.

"It would, if any of you really were Galra."

They stopped laughing. Keith tensed on the spot, ready to fight, while Lance was seriously considering the distance between him and the exit.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, please," Lotor waved his hand dismissively. "A runaway halfling from the Fifth Colony ? I'm guessing your real name is Yorak. And Lance, your shape-shifting might be incredibly convincing, but no Galra would wear this kind of war paintings." He sighed and took a long sip from his drink. "Now. How about we stop playing ?"

There was a second of silence before Lance started to shrink, his skin turning into a rich brown and eyes going back to the vibrant blue Keith was used to see. The slick, dark purple fur on top of his head changed into soft dark curls. His Altean markings shone brighter under the black paint across his face.

Keith decided that there was no point into being stubborn at this point, so he released it. He felt his ears shift around his skull, the fur on the nape of his neck and his arms disappear and his entire skin shift to a dull, pale pink.

They eyed Lotor silently, feeling like two kids who just got caught with the hand stuck in the goo dispenser.

"Well", the latter commented, "You two sure are a lot less impressive now."

"What's going to happen to us ?" Lance asked, his voice oddly blank.

"I'll keep my word," the Galra promised. "I'll bring you to the sanctuary as soon as possible. If you want me to, of course."

Keith glanced at his partner. Lance nodded.

"How can we be sure this isn't a trap ?"

"You can't. I'm not asking for your trust, but I have no interest in... how do they say it... ratting you out."

"I mean, there is a bounty on my head-"

"Keith, come on, he's the Prince," Lance shook his head, "I don't think he needs bounty-hunting as a part-time job."

"Indeed," Lotor chuckled. "So, what do you say ?"

"...Do you mind if we talk about it ?" Keith mused, dragging Lance to his feet and away from the room.

____________________________________________________________________________

"I don't trust him," he grunted as soon as they were alone in one of the corridors - as alone as they could be with a camera right above their heads.

"But he's not lying," Lance pleaded.

"He's creepy."

"He's the Prince of the Galra race," the Altean rolled his eyes. "Of course he's gonna be creepy."

"No, I mean- Have you seen how he looks at you ?" Keith blurted, regretting his words as soon as they left his mouth, heat creeping up his cheeks.

Lance chuckled and crossed his arms, a playful smile ghosting on his lips.

"Is this what it's about ? You're afraid he might fall for my stunning good looks ?"

It was Keith's turn to blush. Hard.

"Again, not what I meant."

"Then tell me, Keith, because I can't read your mind."

"What if there aren't any other Alteans out there ?" he practically hissed. "What if you're the last one and he knows it and he wants you for his private collection or something ? He's the son of Zarkon, by Gods !"

"Okay, first of all, don't say that ever again."

"...What ?"

"I'm not the last one," Lance shook his head, fingers digging in the meat of his arms, eyes on the ground and bottom lip worried between his teeth, "I just can't be. There has to be someone else."

Keith dropped his shoulders with a sigh and rubbed Lance's arm sympathetically.

"Sorry. You're right. It's improbable."

"I want to trust him. I want to believe that Lotor actually has a hidden colony somewhere where my people are safe and alive. I... I want to believe we can go there and be okay and have a roof over our heads and not worry about food."

"We can do it without Lotor's help," Keith tried.

"Can we really ? Because so far we haven't gotten very far on our own," Lance said, more to himself than anything.

"So what do you want to do, then ?"

"We could go with him," he hesitated. "Just for a bit. See what it's all about."

"And ditch him as soon as it gets fishy ?"

The corner of Lance's mouth shot up when he bumped playfully into Keith.

"And ditch him as soon as it gets fishy."

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to feed the author by leaving them comments ! <3


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